TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Drivers Worry About Villeneuve At Talladega

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 29, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Former Formula One champion and Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve has received NASCAR approval to make his Nextel Cup debut next week, and Jeff Gordon has a two-word opinion about it.

Bad idea.

'I like Jacques, and I'm a big fan of his, but I think that's not the right decision to make,' Gordon said Friday. 'I just look at that race, in the Chase. ... Why? You want to go run a race, go run Atlanta. Go to some mile-and-a-half tracks. I'm very, very surprised that that was approved for the first Cup race.'

Kyle Busch echoed Gordon's sentiments, and Jimmie Johnson said he has reservations.

'He's doing what?' Busch said of Villeneuve. 'Holy cow, that's not good.'

Villeneuve completed a Car of Tomorrow test last week at Talladega without incident and made his NASCAR debut in a Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas, starting seventh and finishing 21st.

A national sports hero in his native Canada, Villeneuve, 36, is preparing for what he hopes will be a full-time job in Nextel Cup next year with Bill Davis Racing's Toyota team. He'll have to qualify on speed at Talladega, because his team does not have owners' points.

'Jacques ran a lot of laps in the COT test at Talladega, he ran well in the draft, he earned a lot of respect and he didn't make anybody mad,' crew chief Slugger Labbe said. 'I'm really glad to see new blood coming into the sport.'

But Gordon would prefer that Villeneuve, as a NASCAR rookie, make his debut at a track less susceptible to crashes than Talladega. And since Talladega is part of the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup, a wreck could cost one of the championship contenders.

'I want to see him in the Cup series, just not Talladega,' Gordon said. 'There's too much on the line. It's a track that is not for rookies. No matter whether he's one of the most experienced race drivers in the world, it's not the place to start.'
Rookie drivers have to get NASCAR approval each time they move up to a larger NASCAR track. Gordon said NASCAR officials may have boxed themselves into having to approve Villeneuve because they allowed David Gilliland to make his first superspeedway start at the track last fall.

JOHNSON ON POLE: Johnson went 55 races without winning a pole until getting one Sept. 7 at Richmond. Friday at Kansas Speedway, he collected his third pole in four races for Sunday's LifeLock 400.

The defending Nextel Cup champ and season's leading winner edged Ryan Newman with a one-lap speed of 175.063 mph, but Newman's car failed inspection and his time was disallowed.

Six other Chase drivers joined Johnson in the top 10: Matt Kenseth qualified second, Gordon fourth, Denny Hamlin fifth, Kyle Busch eighth, Martin Truex Jr. ninth, and Clint Bowyer 10th. Johnson also won the pole at Kansas last year.

Zephyrhills' David Reutimann qualified for his fifth consecutive race, putting his No. 00 car 25th on the grid. Teammate Michael Waltrip, who had made only 10 races this year, was a surprising 11th fastest.

REUTIMANNS EVERYWHERE: The automotive technology students at Zephyrhills High had to do without their teacher Friday. That's because Wayne Reutimann Sr., who has taught at the school for 28 years, was at Kansas Speedway qualifying for his first USAC Silver Crown start today.

Reutimann, 62, is driving his son Wayne Jr.'s backup car, which is identical to the primary car except for a few strips of white tape that turn the usual No. 00 into an 01. Wayne Jr. is third in the Silver Crown point standings, and he earned his first career pole Friday with a track-record lap at 169.956 mph.

David Reutimann, Wayne Jr.'s cousin, is competing in both the Nextel Cup and Busch races at Kansas, and his father, Buzzie, is the crew chief on both Silver Crown cars.

'We got to looking at the payoff and saw that it paid $2,600 for 18th place, and that's about the number of cars they've been having,' Wayne Sr. said. 'So we got to thinking, let's register the backup car and I'll drive it.

'Originally Wayne Jr. wanted me to just start the race, run a few laps on old tires, and park it and collect the $2,600. But we got here, and David and Brian Pattie a Chip Ganassi Racing crew chief from Zephyrhills said they'll buy us a set of tires. So I'm going to run the whole race.'

Wayne Sr. qualified 15th in a 16-car field that includes Nextel Cup regular J.J. Yeley.

Tony Fabrizio

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT